SBFA, in partnership with the City of Ventura, plan to create an The Arts Village. The success of this project depends on your support. Therefore, the answers to this question are presented here for your consideration. The plan is for a complex of facilities in a parklike setting, with walkways, piazzas, courtyards, landscaping and open spaces. The Village will feature Arts Education facilities with dance, painting, ceramics and computer arts studios, coupled with music rehearsal and community event space, next to a professional-level theater. It will be a place with a welcoming ambience that envelops visitors (residents and tourists alike) and appeals to their senses. A place where parents know their children will be challenged, inspired, and will be safe. The Arts Village will be located on the Mission Paseo property in Ventura’s Downtown cultural district and we see many persuasive answers to the question “What’s in it for me?” We believe that weaving the arts into everyone’s life inspires discovery, self-expression, and innovation fostering a diverse, creative, and engaged community. If you are in one or more of the groups listed below, you will discover in even more detail, the answers to the above proverbial question.

Parents and their children (and their relatives and friends), community and professional arts organizations and their audiences, teachers/educators, business owners, workers, and professionals civic groups, faith-based organizations, and service clubs and everyone else!

Benefits to parents, children, relatives, friends, all of the classes in dance, music, theater, and visual arts will be conducted in facilities with the best design and equipment for their purpose. Skilled teachers will be attracted to the Village to share their knowledge and love for their specialty with students. Many parents will want their children to discover the joy of the arts by participating in one or more of these classes. They know the extraordinary value of the arts to give new skills and self-esteem to the students. Dozens of studies show that arts involvement even helps children in their performance in other studies – math, science, history, etc. And the kids have FUN. Where else can you get a winning combination like this? It’s like eating ice cream and losing weight. Restaurants, shopping, and other cultural attractions (Museum, the Mission, and WAV artists live/work project) surrounding the Arts Village combine for a pedestrian-friendly and unique experience.

BENEFITS TO ARTS ORGANIZATIONS & AUDIENCES
Talented performers will be able to present their works in a top-drawer venue with state-of-the-art sound, lighting, and sight lines for their audience. Their audiences will take part in the added joy of comfort, ambience, and satisfaction. This quality experience for performers and audiences alike is not possible now in the community rooms, churches and other make-do venues most in this group must use. Visual artists also will be able to display their art inside and outside the structures. Serendipity prevails as visitors will see these artists in the actual creation of their work. And like the parents, children and friends above, audiences coming to the Village will also have the opportunity to enjoy the many attractions in the surrounding neighborhood.

BENEFITS TO TEACHERS/EDUCATORS
The teachers and others responsible for educating our children are currently frustrated in their efforts to offer more arts classes in the school system because of the lack of funds. The Village will be a valuable educational asset for their students. In turn, this will make their job and goals more rewarding.

Benefits to business owners, Workers, Professionals When companies are considering relocating their businesses, one of the key factors influencing their decision is the amount of support the prospective community gives to the visual and performing arts. This is especially true with businesses offering high-wage, high-quality jobs. With its natural beauty, spectacular coastline, and unmatched climate, Ventura is both a desirable tourist destination and an ideal place to live, work, grow a business, and raise a family. When the Arts Village joins the other cultural attractions, Ventura becomes irresistible. And remember those parents, children, relatives, friends, and audience members will be shopping in downtown stores and eating in downtown restaurants. The resulting positive economic impact affects the entire community, and especially this group. Benefits to civic groups, faith-based organizations, service clubs all of these groups need a steady flow of new creative members to replenish their ranks, in order to maintain their viability and to support their healthy growth. Studies show that performing arts attenders are four-and-a-half times more likely to be volunteers than non-attenders. Those who are attracted to a locale by the energy of its arts commitment are the type of people who make a valuable contribution to organizations and to the community.

Everyone else of course, some are more directly benefited by a growing and healthy arts scene than others. However, we believe ALL of us receive “collateral benefits”. Think about it. The additional revenue our city needs to supply us with improved services–say, paving our streets–is generated by increasing economic activity, which the arts create as described above. Or a child who seizes the opportunity to participate in the arts, surprisingly begins getting better grades in math. Or we experience the satisfaction and pleasant feeling of pride when sharing the quality of life we enjoy, with our friends and family when they come to visit. The research clearly shows that the arts build both communities and economies. It is a common denominator that can foster understanding, attract new business and significantly improve our children’s education. Many of the ingredients necessary to make Ventura “California’s New Art City” are already in place - a vibrant city center, premium arts organizations, world-class artists – yet few adequate venues in which their art can be made and presented, few places where new generations can learn from the masters, enhancing their education, increasing test scores and reducing dropout rates. Few other civic investments have been shown to increase business revenue, attract a talented workforce, improve children’s education, and enhance the quality of life for a community better than the arts. We think most will agree that there is something of value offered to everyone by creating this Arts Village in our beautiful community. That is “What’s in it for you.”